More Than One Way to Be Successful

Authored By:

Kurt Bryan & Steve Humphries
Co-creators of the A-11 Offense
Piedmont High School, CA
www.A11Offense.com

*Written for American Football Monthly Magazine, June 2010:


There Are Many Different Ways To Develop A Successful Offensive System

The Wing T, Power I, Run and Shoot, Veer or the West Coast Offense: fortunately, there is no Secret Formula or Magic Bullet offense that guarantees wins. In order to be successful on the offensive side of the ball, a flexible approach is key, and that translates into incredible offensive systems on display each week nationwide at every level.

In February of 2009, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Executive Rules Committee changed their definition of a Scrimmage Kick Formation (SKF), to make it a penalty on the offensive team, if that team had (all eleven players on the field wearing eligible jersey numbers at the same time) on 1st, 2nd and 3rd downs. Prior to that, if an offensive team had at least one-player aligned at least 7-yards deep in the backfield and with nobody under Center, the NFHS definition of a SKF was in effect, and an offensive team could thereby have up to all eleven players on the field wearing eligible jersey numbers 1-49 or 80-99. Hence the name was born for the A-11 Offense (all eleven players potentially eligible) to receive a forward pass.

“Dead, kaput, deceased, expired, perished, buried and departed,” were just a few adjectives some people used to describe the fate of the A-11 Offense - after the NHFS rules committee changed the definition of a Scrimmage Kick Formation in February 2009. It was their attempt to kill the A-11. Some folks were happy about it & some sad about the revision. Change is fluid.

But, after our Piedmont football team defeated a tough opponent during the 2009 season, in which we employed our modified A-11, the opposing Head Coach made this statement to Coach Bryan after the season, about his own team’s best defensive player (a big strong DL), “The hardest part about game planning for the A-11 was figuring out where to put him. The A-11 basically rendered him ineffective the entire game. He wasn’t a factor at all.”

The successful transition of the A-11 into traditional football jersey-numbering rules enables any team, at any level to mix up their looks and use A-11 packages to supplement their current offense. For example, spread option teams can shift into unique A-11 formations, and motion or shift into any of their 2 x 2 or 1 x 3 pass route combinations. Every NCAA & NFL team can also legally get into an A-11 set on 4th downs, and use the "all eleven eligible numbered players on the field at the same time" personnel group to an advantage vs. the defense.

At Piedmont, the A-11 fits the strength of the personnel when matched up against several of our opponent’s assets, and it helps to offset their advantages over us in some areas, especially size. Piedmont’s enrollment is about 800 students, public & coed. The CIF Division III playoff classification we compete in takes eligible playoff teams of (701 – 1,400) enrollment. In the previous three years (2004-2006) before the A-11 was introduced, Piedmont’s overall record was a combined (13-17-1). Comparatively, in the three seasons (2007-09) since using the A-11 at Piedmont, the overall team record is (21-12).

Biggest Changes for the 2009 Season: The full-blown A-11in 2007 & 2008 enabled teams nationwide to experiment with exciting concepts, and opposing defensive coordinators had a chance to stamp new schemes onto the gridiron. Major changes occurred on the field and throughout brainstorming sessions for the teams using A-11 or defending against it.

1. Anchors Have Become a New Position in Football: By design, A-11 replaces both of the Traditional Offensive Tackles with a duo of sleeker and more athletic Game Breaker type athlete, often spreading them wide beyond the hash marks, one to each side. Even though Anchors wear jersey number (# 50-79) they are not lineman type players, respectively. Anchors can do everything a normal receiver can do, except catch a Forward Pass. Anchors can block, take a pitch, handoff, negative bubble screen or quick pass behind the LOS, receive a lateral after a catch by another player, & run with or throw the ball. During 2009, our Anchors executed all of these actions listed and more.

2. Quarterback Can Align Under Center: The only time Piedmont aligned in a SKF in 2009 was for a FG/PAT, therefore, our QB could take the snap from under Center or we could have our QB & RB align at any depth in the backfield. This modification allowed us to use some traditional concepts within the A-11 (like Speed Option), and keep the “threat” of a quick pass or bubble screen to a WR or Anchor hot at various times.

Contrary to what some people think, the A-11 is a solid rushing offense, it creates wide running lanes because the defense is super spread out. Utmost space between the players is an equalizer.

· During the 2009 season our starting Varsity QB threw 18 touchdown passes & 2 int., with an overall QB rating of 145%. Our starting JV Quarterback threw 19 touchdowns & 3 int. Both starting Quarterbacks combined for: 37 Td’s & 5 int.

· We ran the football 48% of the time during the 2009 season, & (49.5% in the 2008)

· We averaged 31.6 points per game for the 2009 season, & (30 points per game in 2008)

· “The Football moves faster than the man,” is true in high school, the NCAA & NFL

· NCAA & NFL Offensive players can Cut-Block the defenders. As the A-11 begins moving up to the highest levels of competition, being able to “cut-block the legs from underneath the defenders” will make the A-11 devastating, and help to neutralize size advantages. It’s often easier for a RB or OL to cut-block an oncoming DE or LB in order to keep the defense honest, than to mandate that the offensive player must always take on a 2nd or 3rd level defender up high. Defenders worry about getting cut-blocked. It will be similar to the effects of the cut-blocking used by Option teams: Army, Navy & Air Force

· Piedmont’s Three years in the A-11: Avg. 7 wins a season & made the playoffs each year

· Our average Home Game attendance before the A-11 was 800 fans per game. Since using the A-11, our average Home Game attendance is more than 2,000 fans per game

· Our annual fundraising average before the A-11 was $29,000

· Since the A-11, our donor contributions average more than $50,000 per year

· Annual Concessions & Merchandise sales have more than doubled since using A-11

There are many different offensive systems available to help your team win more games. For Piedmont, and the other teams willing to try something new, the A-11 and the possibilities it offers are a good fit. As the game of football becomes faster, more dynamic and further spread out across the field of play, there is a respectful contingent of folks believing the game will revert back to a more condensed and Smash Smouth style of play.

With great respect to the Founding Fathers of football and to every player and coach that have come before us, we value the contributions they’ve made to the tremendous game of football. Blocking and tackling will always be the most important elements of the game. Furthermore, creating different formations and exciting ways to advance the football via the run or the pass will always evolve to fit the advanced skills of the modern athlete. That’s excellent news for the players, the coaches, football fans, and for the evolution of the game. Football has always adapted and it will continue to do so. And, the rules will also adjust accordingly to keep up to speed.

From Tom Wallace, Offensive Coordinator: West Valley High School - Hemet, CA

“We decided to add the A-11 to our offensive philosophy because we only had two real lineman and a total of 5 returning varsity players. We did have quite a few athletes that weighed around 170 pounds so we thought the addition of the A-11 would keep us competitive in a league and division where we were the smallest school. We used all of the three lineman sets and added what we call our "nickel" set where we have a trips formation with the addition of our two Anchors all on the same side. This formation was quite successful for us both running and throwing the football. We also added our normal spread and trips formations to keep our opponents from putting just athletes on the field. We ended the season as league champs with a 4-1 League record (6-5 overall) and lost to a school that was twice our size by a score of 35-21 in the playoffs.”

"What the A-11 did, was help our teams compete and win a league championship. We were picked to finish fourth and in some preseason polls fifth out of six teams. It made football a lot of fun for our players and not so much fun for our opposing defensive coordinators. We also have more kids planning on coming out for football in this spring than in the past few years. We will continue to use the A-11 offense and we will only get better using it. It's the future of football!”